Naruto: Spectral Power
by HiroJiyuNaka
Summary: In the Second Stage of the Chuunin Exams, Sasuke shows his true colors, and betrays his team for power. Naruto, fading fast, is confronted by the Kyuubi and unlocks a latent power within him.
1. Chapter 1

AN: REQUEST! 1v2 shot me an interesting scene, and it evolved into this. Small harem, Sasuke bashing. VERY asshole Sasuke. Bits of almost-rape, don't complain about it.

Starts at the Forest of Death mini-Arc.

THIS IS FOR YOU, 1v2! Hey, that rhymed.

Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, the Sharingan wouldn't look as cool as it does.

~*~HJN~*~

Chapter 1 –

Naruto frowned at his teammate. The teme had been more and more of an ass, lately, but this just took the cake. It had happened about ten minutes ago.

Sasuke was always being pursued by Naruto's crush, Sakura, and normally he paid it no mind. But this time, it seemed, the stoic Uchiha had snapped. He slapped Sakura across the face, sending her to the ground. Naruto had prepared a large knuckle sandwich, and was about to feed it to the Duck-Ass, but Sakura stopped him. Even with a large red mark on her cheek, and tears welling up in her eyes, she still said, "Naruto stop, he's right! I got too far in his face; his ninja instincts kicked in and pushed me away. Leave it alone."

Sasuke had smirked then. Not his usual arrogant smirk, although this one DID still somehow contain his massive ego. No, this smile was… Naruto could only describe it as evil, corrupted, _insane_. Like the Uchiha really HAD snapped.

Naruto didn't have much more time to contemplate this, as the last teams had just received their scrolls for the Second Stage of the Chuunin Exams. The hot trenchcoat girl announced them to approach a gate, and they did so. Gate 7. 'Kakashi-sensei would be so proud at our ability to be cliché.'

The gates had opened, and now, ten minutes later, Naruto was watching Sakura and Sasuke prepare a plan for the test. Sakura acted as though nothing was wrong, like everything was the same.

Naruto couldn't think about anything else besides just how far off his rocker Sasuke seemed to be, now. Even his 'normal' face looked crazy, like a madman whose plans were just starting to take effect. The blonde made an excuse to go to the bathroom just to get away from him. He really didn't like leaving Sakura alone with the guy, but he needed to come up with a plan of his own. 'Sasuke's going to get us all killed or worse, I just know it. I'll need a backup plan when his fails.'

Naruto stood behind a fairly nearby tree and emptied himself. "Hey, as long as I'm here, I might as well."

Zipping his pants back up, he stopped as he heard movement coming from where his team was. Rushing back, he knew it was probably nothing, but something in his gut was telling him that they were in trouble. And so he left his piss-spot, completely missing the ticked-off looking giant snake that had just lost its prey.

Returning to the clearing, he saw it empty. A swath of minor destruction was cut though the forest, though, so he followed that. After several minutes, he reached another clearing; he saw Sakura hiding behind Sasuke while he conversed with the Genin team from the Sound village. The girl was leaning back against a tree, waiting for her teammates to finish up, apparently.

Naruto watched from the side as Sasuke spoke. "So, you guys are here to help us pass?"

The guy with bandages around his face answered. "Well, really only you. But if you request, we will pass the other two, as well. Just come with us, and we can take you to our master. He can give you power beyond your wildest dreams!"

Naruto jumped out from the bushes and pointed defiantly at the Oto ninja. "Yeah right! Like we would trust you guys!" He lowered his arm and stood in front of Sasuke. "Besides, we can pass this on our own, right gu-"

All was quiet as Naruto stood there, wide-eyed, a kunai sticking out of his left shoulder blade. Sasuke removed his hand from the hilt and pushed the blonde forward, letting him fall to the ground. Sakura screamed and ran over to him, nervously checking the wound.

The pinkette glared at her crush. "SASUKE-KUN! What are you THINKING? I know he can be kind of annoying at times, but that doesn't mean you should KILL HIM!"

The Uchiha scoffed. "If he can't survive from a single knife wound, he doesn't deserve to be alive, anyway."

Sakura's face grew into that of horror. "But… But you pierced his heart from behind! You might have even punctured his lung, too! Anyone would die from that!" She got up from her knees and pushed her face into Sasuke's. "Sasuke-kun, you have gone way too far, this time!"

For the second time that day, the Uchiha smacked the Haruno girl to the ground. "Kami, you are just so very annoying. You're worse than Naruto!" He turned to the Oto team. "One of you can take me to this master of yours. Whoever wants can… _entertain_ this slut."

The girl, Kin, walked up and nodded. "Well, then I suppose I'll be the one to take you to Orochimaru-sama. Zaku, Dosu, you two can stay here and play." The two nodded, and Zaku grinned lecherously as Kin and Sasuke left.

They approached Sakura, who was crying by this point, and started pulling her hair, fondling her body, and ripping her clothes. It took longer than they thought it would, she was feisty when backed into a corner.

Meanwhile, Naruto could feel himself slipping away. His heart wasn't even beating anymore, but he was still conscious. He could hear Sakura's screams of terror as she was undressed and beaten. But that wouldn't last long. He could feel a tugging on his mind, as though the Shinigami were trying to take him.

No, that's not right… The tug was coming from his own body. The seal on his stomach, to be exact. Eventually, he felt his strength give out, and his mind drifted away from the outside world.

~~HJN~~

The blonde jinchuriki opened his eyes to a five-story iron cage. There was a slip of paper with the kanji for Seal on the bars, and engraved in the floor was the Kanji for Willpower.

Behind the bars was the largest animal he had ever seen. Too big for even the massive cage, there was a nine-tailed red-orange fox laying on the floor, head resting on its paws, eyes open and staring at him. It spoke in a male, demonic voice. **"You know who I am. I am the Kyuubi no Kitsune, strongest of the living tailed-beasts. I am a demon by blood and reputation. And you, kit, are dying."**

Naruto nodded. "What's it to you? I die, and you get set free. So why did you call me here? You did call me, right?" Naruto added, dropping his cool demeanor.

The fox chuckled, a deep, dark sound that not many would hear and still have clean undies. **"You have been misinformed, kit. This seal prevents me from taking physical form at the death of my container. It will bleed me dry to try and keep you alive, which is the reason you are not dead, yet. I will die before you do, as it takes my chakra and uses it to heal you. However, it cannot. Somehow that Uchiha managed to strike you with the tip of the blade piercing a chakra point, a lucky shot if I ever saw one. The chakra-conductive metal is messing with your coils, preventing the healing from reaching your wound. If he had hit a chakra point anywhere else on the body, besides maybe your head, you would live, easily. But your heart cannot pump scab-makers to itself. The cells in that organ rarely, if ever, divide on their own, and so you will die. But there is an option."**

Naruto looked up at the fox hopefully. "Well? What is it?"

**"My power has more potential than what this seal uses it for. If I were to feed my chakra into you directly, without the seal filtering it, I could save you. All you have to do is let me out. Release the seal. It's based entirely on your willpower, so really the only thing stopping you, is you."**

Naruto considered this for a while. He had to save Sakura if he could, and the fox seemed sincere enough. Stepping forward, he was about to jump up to the seal paper when he saw something behind the Kyuubi. A door. A black door, with a rich golden glow coming out from beneath it.

Kyuubi turned his head to look where Naruto was gazing, and his eyes widened. **"Kit, be warned, I do not know what is behind that door. It was trapped in here with me when I was sealed away, it may be even more dangerous. I sense power almost as great as myself from it, and that alone should scare you. Take my offer, it will save you, who knows what that door will do."**

Naruto could hear the fear in Kyuubi's voice, and see it in his face. But it was fear that Naruto wouldn't let him out, not necessarily that the blonde would open the door. Naruto walked past the bars, and passed the Kyuubi, who couldn't move in the tight space. Despite the fox's continued protests, he placed his hand on the doorknob, which seemed to be made of a large diamond, and turned.

~~HJN~~

Sakura struggled furiously against her tormentors, but to no avail. They were stronger than her, and she was losing energy from their abuse. Her true virginity remained intact, though her hymen was already broken from an incident on the playground as a kid, but there were fingers inside her, now, wriggling around, trying to get her 'ready'. But she knew, with some kind of twisted pride, that she would never be 'ready'. Despite Dosu's attempts to get an automatic, biological reaction from her, she was still relatively dry down there. Zaku's penis was in her face, though, trying to force its way into her mouth, but she kept biting it every time it got near. Which, of course, earned her another slap and a bad taste in her mouth.

Then they paused, and tensed visibly. She was confused for a moment, but then she felt it. Chakra. It was in the air, and it was thick, dripping with Killer Intent. Sakura turned her head to the source, and saw Naruto, on the ground, covered in a golden glow. She could see him twitching, and finally she noticed why. The kunai in his back was slowly sliding out, as though it were being pushed from within.

Dosu and Zaku let Sakura fall to the ground as they watched Naruto slowly pull himself to his feet, steam rising from the wound on his back as it closed rapidly.

Naruto could feel liquid power running through him, the wound closing as though it were never there. Then he felt a pressure in his shoulder blades. When it released, a skeletal bat wing structure burst from his back, ripping his clothes.

The Oto nin and Sakura gaped at the development. It was as though the bone wings weren't made of bone. They were more like clear blue diamond. Hollow diamond, with some kind of golden liquid flowing through them. Then more diamond-bone burst from above the boy's butt, sprouting into a tail, shaped exactly like his spine would be, except at the end. The end had three spikes splitting off from the tip. The wings stretched and popped their joints, the tail swishing behind him, spikes twitching independently. Naruto rolled his shoulders and neck, testing them.

He opened his eyes, revealing his blue irises, the malice looking out of place in those orbs, yet deadly all the same. Perhaps it was the golden pupil, but he made it work.

Naruto stepped forward, and the Oto shinobi stepped back. Naruto quirked an eyebrow. "Nope. Sorry. Too late to run away. You have done wrong by me by hurting my precious person. Now you must be punished."

Sakura's eye grew wide as Naruto thrust his wings at her tormentors, piercing them through the stomach. Their bodies convulsed for a moment, then slumped over.

Naruto withdrew his wings and let them fall to the ground. Turning, he looked at Sakura, then immediately looked away. "Did… Erm.. Did they…?"

Sakura looked down, and seemed to notice for the first time that she was naked. Covering herself as best she could, she shook her head, blushing furiously. "N-no. I'm alright. More or less. Naruto… What happened to you?"

He chuckled and rubbed the back of his head, still facing away. "I don't rightly know. I was dying, then I got sucked into my seal, you know the one with… Anyway, I opened a door or something, and next thing I know, I wake up, feeling better than ever, and more ticked off than I've ever felt. Here, come on. Let's get back to our packs and get you into some clothes."

Sakura nodded, and made to get up, but a pain shot through her leg, and she fell back to the ground. "Ugh! Okay, yeah that's not happening."

Naruto risked a look back, and saw the state she was in. Bruises all over her, a cut on her cheek, and a very ominous purple mark on her left shin. "What's wrong, Sakura-chan?"

She looked up and shrieked, "DON'T LOOK! TURN AROUND!" He did, immediately. Once she calmed down, she said, "I think my leg's broken."

Naruto frowned. "Well we can't stay here. Storm's coming. I can send a Kage Bunshin to get our packs, but otherwise, we need to move. You sure you can't walk?" Even as he said it, thunder rolled across the sky, and he shot out a clone, complete with the skeletal wings and tail, which ran back to their original clearing.

Sakura tried bending her knee and rolling her ankle, and winced. "Yeah, I'm sure. I suppose… Y-you'll just have to…c-carry me…"

Naruto's face grew hot. "Well… I could d-do that." The clone returned with the packs and Naruto started looking for Sakura's spare clothes. "Here, let's get you dressed, fir-" *plip*

Naruto and Sakura looked up at the sky, and felt the rain begin to fall. Sakura's eyes grew wide. "I guess there's no time for that, then." She looked over at her blonde, and indeed, now only teammate, and narrowed her eyes. "You better not try any funny stuff, mister! You are to carry me to shelter, leave me my bag, and leave the area while I change!"

Naruto chuckled nervously. "I'm not a pervert, Sakura-chan. At least not normally."

She adjusted herself to cover her breasts and crotch as best as she could. "Yeah, well, this isn't exactly a normal circumstance, is it? Come on, you can turn around now, but just remember our agreement!"

Naruto nodded and swung their packs over his shoulders. Turning around, he braced himself for the nosebleed, but it never came. She was beautiful, of course, sexy, too, at least to him. But it was coupled with a respect far too great to have inappropriate thoughts in this situation. Walking over to her, he gently picked her up under the knees and back, bridal style. He could see her blushing furiously, and he himself was losing feeling in the rest of his body from all the blood rushing to his face. And another part of him, but that was a natural, biological reaction, she couldn't possibly get upset at that.

It seemed his tail knew what to do while he moved, it automatically counterbalanced him as he jumped through the trees. "I think these wings actually work! At least as gliders, anyway, I'm jumping farther and faster, now."

Sakura looked up at him. "Really? But they're just skeletons, how could they help?"

Naruto blinked and realized he must have been thinking out loud. "Oh, well, I don't know. Then again, I don't know what this means, either. All I know is that I'm gonna be practicing these while you're changing. Hey, I think I see some shelter!"

Sure enough, not a minute later and Naruto landed in front of a shallow cave, just big enough for four people comfortably.

Sakura squinted against the rain and wind. "Good thing, too, this storm is picking up!"

Naruto hopped inside and pulled a sealless clone, something he had worked on during his C-rank turned A-rank mission in Wave. The clone pulled a blanket out of their packs, which Naruto placed Sakura on.

Removing the packs from his shoulders, he put them next to the girl, and turned around. "Now, I'm going to be right outside. Call me in when you're done, got it?"

"Okay. I promise I'll hurry, so you can get out of the rain."

Naruto gave her a thumbs-up over his shoulder. "I'll be fine. You just be careful, when you're done, I'll splint that leg." And he left; back out into the wind and the rain just outside the cave.

Sakura grabbed her pack and looked into it. She hadn't really known what they were going to be doing for this test when she packed, so she had tried to cover her bases. Unfortunately, with everything she had put in there, there was only room for one extra pair of clothes, and it wasn't even her normal outfit! Pulling on her underwear, she started wrapping her breasts with the medical tape like every Kunoichi is taught when bras are unavailable. They weren't big by any means, but it still bothered her when there was nothing to hold them. The next bit was a problem, though. The black shorts, which were different in that they had a light red stripe down each side, were skintight. And her leg was broken. She managed, though, with some pain, and got them up onto her hips. 'Let's see, what else did I put in here…?' A metal mesh V-neck shirt, apparently. She pulled that on, and dug a little more. 'Aha! Oh crap.' Sakura held up a red zipper-shirt with her family's white circle on the back, similar to the top part of the dress she normally wore. Unfortunately, this one was from when she was just a little younger. 'Must have grabbed it by mistake.'

Pulling it on, she found it still fit, mostly, though the zipper didn't go all the way up. Thankfully, the V-neck of the mesh shirt hid it from view; she may be wearing a shirt a couple sizes too small, but she didn't need to look like that Anko woman. She noticed that about two inches of her midriff was exposed, too, but it would do for now. She hadn't packed a skirt, thinking she had thrown her battle dress in there instead of this old shirt, so her skintight shorts were all that was there. All-in-all, she looked alright, and the exposed skin wasn't slutty, so she called it a win. "Naruto! I'm done, you can come in, now!"

*HJN*

Naruto left the cave to let the girl get dressed. Seeing a large pine tree ten feet away, he took a stance. His legs were bent and spread, but his feet were slightly closer together than a horse stance. Arms were loosely held aloft, and his right side was leading, slightly. Then he struck. His right wing folded its 'fingers' into the main branch, and stretched at the tree. 'They did that before, too. Are the skinny branches vulnerable?' The wing struck the tree, but barely. It seemed ten feet was the limit of each wing. Testing this, he held his right wing stretched, and struck with his left. It hit the tree too, again, only scratching the surface, though a little less than the right wing, due to his stance. He nodded. "Yep, they're both ten feet, even at the same time." Withdrawing his wings, he brought the right one in for examination. Touching it, he could feel with them. They felt like just another appendage, like his body had had them all its life. Touching the finger branches, he found that they were just as tough as the main arm, but the arrangement of the bones prevented striking movements with them spread. 'So its automatic due to structure. Okay, I get that. Tail…'

Bringing it around to the front, he inspected the end. The three spikes coming off the tip seemed to be able to move independently, like three long, bony fingers, complete with joints. Naruto looked at the tree, and readied himself. Striking this time with his tail, he subconsciously knew to bring the tips of the fingers together and make a point at the end. The tail struck the tree, and went all the way through it. He estimated the reach to be about 20 feet! "Now that's cool! It's like it stretched!" bringing it back, he watched as it retracted to a mere 6 feet long, twitching behind him. Naruto thought for a moment. "Hm. I wonder…"

He looked around and saw a small rock in the, now, mud. Reaching with his wing, he tried using the branches to pick it up, but no luck. They just weren't meant for it. Trying again with his tail, the three fingers lifted it from the ground easily "Alright, that's cool. Let's test how accurate I am."

Aiming at a tree more than 50 feet away, he whipped his tail and flung the rock. It struck the trunk perfectly!

He would have tried with a kunai, but he heard Sakura yell from inside the cave, "Naruto! I'm done, you can come in, now!"

Walking inside and shaking water out of his hair, he looked at Sakura on the blanket. "Wow… You look great! Why don't you ever wear that, huh?"

Sakura raised an eyebrow at him. "Because this is an old shirt that, by all rights, barely fits me."

Naruto chuckled. "Well, it sure looks like it fits. From where I'm standing, it doesn't look constricting, or anything."

"Well, no, it's not, but.."

Naruto grinned. "Then what does it matter? Now drop it, and let me splint that leg." He said, before leaving once more to find a few sticks for the splint, cursing himself for not doing so, earlier.

Sakura looked down at herself, and tried to imagine a mirror. "I guess it does look pretty good. And it IS comfortable…" She looked up as Naruto returned, once more shaking his hair dry.

"Although, you could do with a haircut. It just doesn't match the outfit." He said, as he pulled a length of rope and some medical tape out of his bag.

Sakura contemplated this while he wrapped her leg. He was very gentle, but firm where it counted. 'Kind of like his personality.' She had been growing her hair since she found out Sasuke liked girls with long hair. "I don't know if I could cut my hair. Sasuke likes it this way." Before she could catch herself, she said it. But the damage was done. Naruto pulled a little tighter than he needed to on the splint, making her wince.

"That teme betrayed me. Betrayed us! He tried to kill me, he left you to be beaten and raped! If you still care about him, fine, but I'm done with that asshole."

"Naruto…"

"NO! He has snapped, Sakura-chan! He's had this crazy look in his eye since he slapped you outside the gates! Like he enjoyed the power he had over you. And then when you stopped me from decking him, it only got worse, like his dominance had just spread to me in his eyes. Sakura-chan, he's nothing anymore. Leave him." He finished the splint and looked up at her, having just realized something. "Who told you he likes long hair, anyway?"

Sakura thought for a moment. "A note. A piece of paper he was doodling on next to his desk. It had little stick figures of people and dogs and stuff, and a note at the bottom that said he preferred long haired girls. That was the second year of the Academy."

Naruto blinked, then started laughing. "Sakura-chan, that was Kiba! He sat right next to Sasuke, remember? Didn't the dogs tip you off?"

Sakura reddened at the thought. The dogs should have made it obvious, that's true. "So… He doesn't like long haired girls?"

Naruto's face grew dismissive. "He probably doesn't even like girls at all, Sakura-chan."

She knew she should hit him for that, but instead she giggled. Normally she would have hit him, but somehow, Sasuke had lost a lot of luster in her eyes. 'Somehow nuthin, he practically told those guys to rape me!'

Naruto smiled seeing her laugh. Pulling out some more blankets, he spread a few over Sakura. "We should get some sleep since this storm is probably gonna last the night. I'll whip us up something simple, then we'll head out tomorrow. Sasuke took our scroll, so now we need to find both of them to pass."

Sakura looked at him as he sifted through the packs for food. "But Naruto, we have to get through this test as a team. If one of us dies, or we get separated, we fail anyway. Even if we somehow get both scrolls before the five days are up, we'll never be let into the central tower without Sasuke."

Naruto grinned, not looking up from the portable fire he was setting up. "I'll burn that bridge when we get to it. Sasuke abandoned us, so he shouldn't get in anyway, plus I killed two of the Sound Genin back there, so that girl's team should fail, too. But somehow I get the feeling that both of them will pass this test. If they can do it, so can we." He finished the food he was preparing, and handed some to Sakura. "Here. Eat, it'll be good for your leg."

Sakura looked down at the rice and veggies. It wasn't gourmet, but she would never expect that on a mission, so why expect it here? Taking a bite, her eyes grew wide. "Naruto, what is this? It's rice and veggies, I know, but I can taste pork! Wouldn't that spoil?"

Naruto laughed at his friend's amazement. "Yeah, it would, at least until I figure out a way to stop it. That's the extract you taste. I cook bacon and pork and other meats to eat, then I take the drippings, not the blood, mind you, but the self-contained sauce, and bottle it. It doesn't spoil for months, and you can take it on the road to add flavor without needing to cook meat separately to put it in your meal."

Sakura grew silent for a moment, before saying, "I didn't know you could cook! With all the ramen you eat, I just assumed…"

He smiled sadly. "That I didn't know how to take care of myself? I have not once had ramen the same way twice, did you know that? I've been teaching myself to cook since I was eight, the Ichirakus' have been helping since I was ten. I am constantly looking for ways to make square, nutritious, energizing, and _filling_ meals while out on missions quickly and effectively. We have soldier pills for chakra, nutrient bars for the rest of the body, but there is still the debilitating effects of an empty stomach. If each team that goes into the field could be equipped with someone who could make what I'm trying to invent, and still able to fight at team capacity, there would be a lot less mission fails and KIAs. Same goes for medic nins, if there was a combat-proficient medic on every team, the failure and death rates would lower, too." He took a few bites of his food before speaking, again. "You know, our Yondaime Hokage tried to push the medic bit through during his command. He never got it past the council, though."

Sakura quirked her head, intrigued. "Why not? That sounds like a great idea."

"Apparently the mindset was that medics were trained to heal, not to fight, and so they would only get hurt on the battlefield. And who would heal the healers? But that's just it, isn't it? You CAN train them to fight, AND to heal! They just didn't get that."

"Is that what you're going to do? When you become Hokage?"

"One of the things, yeah. There's so much about this village that just reeks of bad decisions, and I feel like the only one who wants to fix any of it is me."

Sakura reached over and put her hand on the blonde's shoulder. "I'll help you. Fix it, I mean. Now that I see your reasoning, I get how screwed up this place is now. I guess I just never noticed cause it's my home, and it's hard to hate the place you call home."

Naruto flashed a foxy grin, letting her know it was alright. "Well, thanks, Sakura-chan! Now, eat your, apparently, delicious food! Tomorrow, we go scroll-hunting!"

She nodded, and finished her bowl. 'I'm learning more and more about Naruto each moment… Speaking of new things..' "Naruto, how are you going to sleep with those wings and tail?"

He looked down at his body, and thought about this. If they burst from his body, they should be able to retract into it, right? No sooner had this thought formed than the wings and tail jerked back into his body, leaving holes in his clothes at the shoulder blades and tailbone. "Like that! Aw, crap, now I gotta change, too! That's going to be a problem…"

She giggled as he spun around, trying to better see the damage, and inadvertently exposing part of his butt to her. She didn't really mind. Somehow, being carried, stark naked through the rain has lessened her embarrassment around him. Go figure."I'll help you figure something out tomorrow, I know a little about sewing."

Naruto plopped down on his blankets, face red from shaking his butt around in front of her. "Thanks, Sakura-chan. I know I sound like a broken record, but let's get some sleep. For REAL, this time."

She nodded, and they curled up under their covers, waiting out the storm and ending the first day of their Second Exam.

~*~HJN~*~

AN: Okay, shorter than normal, I know! I just need time to figure out how in a blue Hell I'm gonna fix Naruto's outfit! Kinda wrote myself into a corner there, but I'll manage. Read, review, don't kill me.

Ja ne~


	2. Chapter 2

AN: So, a couple people suggested seals for Naruto's outfit, but I don't want to introduce those, yet. Another said Velcro, and from that, the idea below was born.

Updates: Wind Sage in the Sands is currently on hold while I remember where I was going with it, which will hopefully be soon, but don't wait on the edge of your seats for this. Blades of the Spirit is coming along slowly, I'm trying to decide how I want Naruto's training to progress, and the discussion with Ino about "what they are" is giving me trouble with how much realism I'm trying to give it. Uzumaki: Clan of the Light is also coming slowly, the test is diving me insane, I kinda made it over in an instant the first time around, and now I'm expanding it. Forever Changed is moving a bit better, I'm about halfway done with chapter two(remember, this story will have 10k+ long chapters). Lightning Strikes is coming along well, I just haven't worked on it in a while with the holidays and other stuff. Animalistic, shit, I haven't even started the second chapter, but I know generally what it's going to hold, so that shouldn't take too long. True Partners: Uzumaki and Uchiha is another slow one, I'm stuck on how fast I want Sakura to get stronger, and how I want to build up to her first major change. I've got about five more stories in the making, but don't expect them for a while, I've got something planned for 'em.

I just wanted to touch on something. A couple people have asked me to do specific things in this story in particular, and I want to remind everyone that this is a REQUEST that someone else ASKED ME to do. They have an idea of what they want, and they and two other people(whose opinion I have always valued) are the only ones who will have any outside influence on THIS story. Most of my other stories, especially True Partners, Lightning Strikes, and Forever Changed, are VERY open to outside influence, and will welcome any suggestions and questions you send in.

Also, if someone could generously draw scenes/characters from my stories (like Spectral Naruto or the outfit changes in the other stories), I would be very grateful, as I have gotten several requests for images. I can't pay you(I don't trust online pay-transfer sites), but you would get free publicity, since a surprising amount of people read and like my stuff.

Sorry for the second-chapter rant, I'll normally try to keep those to the first chapter. xD

Enjoy~

~*~HJN~*~

Chapter 2 –

Naruto stood at the mouth of the cave and watched the rain as it slowed in the early morning sun. "Storm's letting up. Looks like we'll be able to head out, today, after all."

Sakura looked up from her blanket. "That's great. Your pants are almost done, just need to fit the opening to your tail. Throw these on, and come here." She said, tossing his orange pants at him.

Naruto pulled them on, covering his ripped boxers. Walking over, he turned his back to the pinkette and slowly let his tail emerge, being careful not to allow the blade-like tri-pronged fingers to get near her. 'At least the wings don't need to be out at the same time.'

Sakura tugged and pulled at the hole she had sewn into the seat of his pants. Picking up the needle made out of a squirrel bone she had him fetch(it was a giant squirrel, too, which made it a bit harder. Damn Forest of Death. At least he was able to whittle it down.), and started sewing it closer shut. Then she picked up what she thought to be quite the nifty little flap she had made. It was made of the missing material from his pants, and a plate of curved metal from Naruto's trap set, with bits of elastic from the same set dangling off. Attaching it, she looked at her creation. "Okay, Naruto, put the tail away, slowly." He did so, and she watched as the curved metal prevented the spine-like bones of the diamond tail from catching and folding the flap sewn to the top of the hole. As the tail retracted into Naruto's body, the elastic did its job and covered the hole with the material flap. Sakura smiled, "I think it worked! Try taking it in and out a little faster, now, let's see if the flap holds up."

Naruto did so, and low and behold, Sakura's invention worked! He spun around and grinned. "Thanks Sakura-chan, you're a genius!"

She waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. "It was simple, no big deal. Your jacket will be even easier, though I'm afraid your shirt and boxers are going to stay ripped for a while." She said with a laugh.

He was about to speak, when he heard voices outside the cave. Turning, he settled into a crouch and crept forward, Sakura keeping absolutely silent behind him. Reaching the mouth of the cave, he peaked out and watched a team of Ame Shinobi walk past, arguing about where to go. Naruto kept his chakra down in case the one with his eyes covered was a sensory type and watched them pass. Once he felt confident they were gone, he went back to Sakura in the cave.

"Looks like the forest is up. Other teams, too. Come on let's break camp and head out. I'll be fine with a ripped jacket for now."

Naruto and Sakura packed up their belongings, which Naruto then slung over his shoulders. Assigning a clone to carry Sakura leaving him available in case of an attack, they set out from their shelter, the previous day's rain settled into a drop a minute.

Naruto and his clone jumped through the trees. He and Sakura had agreed that they would stay closer to the tower, hoping to find teams who had already gathered their scrolls heading inside. Naruto and his clone were both traveling with their wings out, to reduce drag and increase their speed.

It was well over an hour in the huge forest before they encountered anything. In this case, it was a genjutsu. A fairly simple one, but it was large. Sakura pointed it out when she noticed the same pear-shaped tree three times. Setting her down, Naruto summoned a couple more clones to surround her, and released the genjutsu, following Sakura's instructions in the matter.

All of a sudden, standing in front of them were the two of the three Ame Shinobi from earlier. The one with both eyes uncovered laughed under his re-breather. "See, I told you setting a trap near the tower would work. Now, hand over your scroll and we'll only kill you a little." That last bit was directed at Naruto.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but we're fresh out of scrolls at the moment. You could give us yours, though, as a kindness for those who have none." Naruto answered, grinning deviously.

Suddenly there was a hundred Ame Shinobi surrounding them, all of them looking like the first two. "If you don't have any scrolls, then you're only in the way. We'll kill you as a service to the test, since only weaklings would lose their scroll, skeleton freak!" And then there was an arrow through Naruto's right arm.

He grimaced in pain, and looked around, but not one of the enemy had moved. 'Are they Kage Bunshins? I can't see any reason why they could create this many as easily as I could, so they must be illusions.' "Hah! A single arrow is nothing! Let's bring out my own army, shall we? KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" The clearing filled with smoke that quickly disappeared. Twenty Narutos, complete with the skeletal wings all glared at the offending team, and launched.

Each clone swept their wings out as they ran through the ranks, the enemy dissolving into either water or nothingness with each smack of the diamond appendages. He himself ran straight for the original two Genin, whom he hadn't taken his eyes off of. Jumping, he gathered his tail back for a strike, while his arm reared back for his signature left hook.

Stabbing the one on the right and hitting the left one hard enough to shatter his jaw, his eyes widened when they all faded into nothingness. "Bunshin!" He turned around, and saw that the rest of the army were all Bunshins of some kind, as well. Naruto grunted in pain as another arrow pierced his right knee from behind, and he spun around just in time to see a glint in the trees before it disappeared.

Naruto jumped back to Sakura and her clone guards, wincing as he landed. Speaking to a clone, he told it where he suspected at least part of the enemy was, and to keep Sakura safe. Creating another forty clones, he spread them out in random directions, with two heading deceivingly into the right direction. Deceiving, because they were _looking_ in the wrong direction. Pulling out the arrow from his arm, he winced as steam rose from it as the hole closed. Doing the same with his leg, he handed the two arrows to Sakura. "Hold on to these, I've got an idea for later, maybe." She nodded, entirely confused, but impressed that Naruto was taking charge so easily.

He turned around and counted to three. Then he ran at the point where he last saw the glint of metal, his wings increasing his speed. Jumping through the trees, he pounced on the first thing he saw, which was an Ame ninja with one eye covered holding a crossbow. The boy tried to run, but Naruto's two other clones closed him off on all sides. Naruto let his tail emerge and grabbed the Genin by the torso with it. Holding him up, Naruto searched his pockets and pouches. 'No scroll. Must be with the other two.' Taking the kid's quiver of arrows, he knocked him out against a tree and left him there. Turning around, Naruto jumped back into the clearing. A moment later, the other two Ame shinobi popped out of the trees, chased by a single Naruto clone. One of them turned around and flew through some handsigns, shouting, "SUITON: MIZU IMOCHI NO JUTSU! **(Water Release: Water Blast Jutsu)**" Water gathered from the freshly rained-on ground and shot at the clone, destroying it. But Naruto was already there, and grabbed the guy with his tail and spun, throwing him into his comrade.

The two bowled over each other, landing in a heap. Before they could react, clones surrounded them, grabbing limbs and holding sharp wings at their necks. Naruto walked up and searched them while they screamed and shouted at him to let them go. "Yeah yeah, calm down. You lost fair and square, we get your scroll, now." Finally he found it, a green Earth scroll in the Genin's pouch. He turned away and the clones were about to knock them out, when one of them yelled at him.

"YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE WEAK! A DEAD-LAST THAT COULDN'T PROTECT HIMSELF!"

Naruto stopped. His free hand clenched into a fist at his side. Too calmly to be calm, he said, "I was never a dead-last. Sabotage and misdirection destroys the meaning of any learning. You can't judge me, because no one has seen what I can do. Not even me." At that, his tail whipped out and stabbed the Ame Shinobi through the chest, but missing his heart, leaving him alive long enough to hear the next thing Naruto said. "But I'm starting to get an idea."

~~HJN~~

Sakura looked up at her teammate from her position in the clone's arms. "Hey, Naruto…"

"Hm? What is it, Sakura-chan?"

She hesitated, but spoke nonetheless. "There's something that's been bothering me since yesterday. When I asked about the wings and tail, you said something about a seal, but then you stopped. I didn't want to press the matter, since I was naked and we were out in the open, but now it's haunting me, again."

Naruto was silent for a while, simply leading them through the trees. Eventually he seemed to make up his mind. "Promise you won't tell anyone unless I say it's okay?"

She was surprised, to say the least. But she promised, feeling a sense of dread in her chest as she did so.

Naruto looked to his clone and nodded once. They landed in a clearing and the clone set Sakura against a tree. "Sakura-chan… Remember on Tazuna's bridge back in Wave Country? The battle there with Zabuza and that Haku guy?" She nodded. "Remember how it ended?"

She thought for a moment. At the time she had been scared slightly shitless, so her attention on anything not in her immediate vicinity was fuzzy. "I think you and Kakashi made a bunch of clones to scare the thugs away after they didn't run when the villagers showed up. Then Zabuza killed Gatou and he died next to Haku, right?"

Naruto nodded. "And just before that? How did Sasuke and I get out of Haku's jutsu?"

She strained her memory. It seemed too blurry, like she didn't WANT to remember. "Uhm… Didn't you break those mirrors? With uuuhhhhh…." Her eyes widened in remembrance. An image of Naruto screaming at the sky, red chakra swirling around him, his face changed into something… feral filled her mind. "With some red jutsu or something!"

He sighed. He had hoped that she remembered, and apparently she did. Now came the hard bit. "Sakura-chan, that wasn't a jutsu. That was chakra. Pure chakra and rage. But it wasn't mine."

"It… Wasn't your chakra? Or you weren't enraged?"

"The wrath was mine, but the chakra… It was born of a demon inside me. The Kyuubi no Kitsune that the Yondaime supposedly killed 14 years ago wasn't really killed, demons can't be killed in their true from. Only contained." He continued the story, relaying almost the exact same words that the Sandaime had told him the day he got back. "The Yondaime took me, the only child born that day, and sealed the Kyuubi .He needed a newborn whose chakra coils weren't developed yet, so the Kyuubi's energy wouldn't rip them apart from the inside. Anyway, it was at a sacrifice of his own life, and the Kyuubi still did a lot of damage during the attack. Almost all of the village hates me because they seem to think I AM the Kyuubi. Afterwards, Old Man Hokage found me, and you pretty much know the rest." He tried to look like he didn't really care how she saw him, now, but he knew he must be failing horribly.

Sakura, though, just sat there. And sat there. And sat there some more. A squirrel ran up and grabbed a nut next to her hand, then proceeded to eat it on the spot. And she sat there. The squirrel climbed up onto her lap and settled into a curl, possibly sleeping. And still she sat there, apparently asleep, herself. Or broken.

Naruto started to say "Sakura-chan," but was interrupted by sounds of an argument off to the right. Not wanting to get caught up in that with his teammate in this state, he moved to pick her up, but the squirrel on her lap lifted its head and chirped at him, assuming a protective stance. Or at least, what would be a protective stance if squirrels knew what that was. "Move, squirrel!" More chirps. "I need to get her out of here, there's a battle not far away!" This time it HISSED at him! "Okay, fine. You protect her, then, I'll go see what's going on." He turns to leave, then stops. "I was just arguing with a squirrel. And then put said squirrel in charge of Sakura-chan. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Five Naruto clones popped out and took up position around the pinkette, doing what was probably a much better job of protecting her than the squirrel.

~~HJN~~

Naruto crept along the bushes, watching a team from… Naruto couldn't see their headband from this angle, but the leader seemed to have three… Umbrellas? Yeah, three umbrellas on his back. Naruto watched as that cat-costume guy with the purple makeup from Suna was trying to dissuade the unknown Genin from fighting. The tall blonde in his team was next to him, and the creepy redhead was there, as well, standing in the back, seemingly bored. Naruto couldn't hear much, but apparently the redhead got upset at something, cause he stepped forward. Then the guy with the umbrellas threw them into the air, and they rained down senbon on the Suna Shinobi. But the redhead was surrounded by sand, catching the senbon and protecting him.

Naruto shivers as the sand-user gets an inhuman gleam in his eye. Naruto knew that look well, he had seen it on enough drunk villagers. It was bloodlust, the desire to kill everything that had ever offended him. Suddenly the other guy was encased in sand, and the redhead brought his hand up, palm out. His teammates were incredibly worried, and as was the unknown team.

Naruto heard the next bit loud and clear, as though it traveled into his mind more than his ears. The redhead said, "Mother wants your blood. Your death will prove my existence. Sand Burial."

Then the boy clenched his outstretched hand in a fist. And the sand crushed the Genin, blood spraying with force from the cocoon. The boy glared at the dead Genin's team, who dropped their scroll, a Heaven scroll, Naruto noted, and ran away. The sand slithered its way into the redhead's gourd, and the guy with the makeup walked forward, cautiously.

"Gaara, what do you want to do with their scroll? It's the same as ours."

Naruto knew he was probably an idiot, but something about this Gaara made him move. He retracted his wings and tail and walked out of the bushes, ignoring the slightly familiar sound of a gasp off to his left. "You could give it to me. This way I won't have to try and fight you, seeing as how I'll probably lose. We don't have any scrolls, already having lost our Earth scroll," he lied. He hoped he could keep his face straight, as he was truly scared. There was a malice that boy emitted when he killed that brought bad thoughts to Naruto's head. _Demonic_ thoughts.

Gaara seemed to think for a moment, then started walking toward him. Naruto kept perfectly still, ready to strike with his hidden tail if need be. Gaara studied him for another moment, the second time that week, and then said, "Mother sympathizes with you. I wish to see you in a less worn state. It will be… Interesting to see you fight." Then the Heaven scroll was lifted on a fountain of sand and held for Naruto to take.

He looked at it, then smiled and plucked the scroll off with no hesitation. All of a sudden, he felt a kinship with this boy. Gone was the malice and the bloodlust. It seemed his teammates felt it, too, for they were incredibly surprised.

He bade goodbye to Gaara and his team, thanking him for the scroll.

Heading back through the underbrush, he found Sakura had recovered, and was now in the lap of one of his clones, having her hair stroked and crying. The squirrel seemed to be gone. Cautiously, he moved forward, the other clones parting before him. Reaching the girl, he crouched down next to the clone holding her. It looked up at its creator and mouthed "You."

Naruto nodded and put his hand on her shoulder, gently whispering "Sakura-chan?"

She turned around, her eyes puffy and her cheeks wet. Somehow realizing this was the real Naruto, she flung her arms around his neck and continued weeping, this time interrupted with unintelligible words and what he can only assume to be sentences. Naruto wrapped his arms around her, trying to decipher some of her mutterings while letting a calming aura envelope the girl.

"Y-y-yo-u…. I-I'm so s-so-or-rry… I'm so-r-ry…" she tried to say, severely hampered by her sobbing.

"Shhh, it's all right, it's all right. Just tell me what's wrong," he said gently, petting her hair, soothingly.

It took a while, but she finally calmed down long enough to explain her plight. "You… You had it so hard-I made it so hard for you. They all think you are a Demon-they would have ME think you are a Demon, but the only one, *sniff*, you could ever be a Demon to is your enemies! You are, *sniff*, the kindest person I know! You- You have such a-"

Naruto interrupted her before she could start crying again. "Sakura-chan, Sakura-chan! There's no one here you need to convince! I know what I am, whatever I may look like, now!" he added, twitching his wings for good measure. He looked down into her eyes, and said, "Thank you, though. For understanding."

She nodded, and smiled. Then her cheeks turned a certain shade of red, and she seemed to hesitate on something for a moment. Looking up at him, he was utterly and completely surprised when she reached up and kissed him gently on the lips. The blonde boy holding her couldn't quite comprehend what was occurring, as he just sat there, dazed, when she pulled away.

Sakura looked up at him with a cheeky smile on her face. "Now don't you go getting any wrong ideas, Naruto!" She pointed at him, poking him in the chest to emphasize her point. "Just because Sasuke turned out to be a traitorous piece of trash doesn't mean I'm going to go running after you, now! That kiss was just a thank you for being there for me all my life, got it?"

Naruto grinned with his signature fox face. "Got it. But that doesn't mean I'm not gonna try and get more from you, Sakura-chan!"

'I wouldn't want it any other way,' she thought, happy to have any kind of normalcy at this point, as he picked her up and told her of his encounter with the Suna team. "So we've got both scrolls, now?"

The blonde nodded. "Yup. But we should find another place to lie in until morning. Even I get tired sometimes, and I didn't get any sleep last night."

Her eyes widened in shock. "Naruto! You should have said something, we could have rested longer!"

He shook his head and started moving, this time neglecting to leave his own hands free, carrying her himself. He noted that the other clones had dispersed themselves at the kiss, and made a mental note of how he suddenly knew how his ripped jacket looked on him from behind. "No, it was only proper that I stay up and take watch. This forest is deadly, and it probably only gets worse at night. That giant squirrel was no pushover!"

She giggled slightly at him, remembering his tale of how he had bravely slain the 15-foot rodent to get her a needle. She had to admit, even with the obvious bits of exaggeration, it sounded like quite the display. "Right, you're right. Let's find some place to sleep, it's not like we're falling behind. We'll still have three days to get to the center tower."

Naruto nodded, it was true, they were making great time. Moving through the trees, he heeded Sakura's advice to stay close to the river when possible, as there was likely to be more opportunities for shelter.

Soon, they found a small overhang, partially obscured from view by some overhanging roots. Once under cover, they realized just how small the overhang was, though. Barely big enough for one person, it would in no way hold them both and their bags. But night had fallen, and Sakura could hear… _things_ rustling more than before. "Look, we'll have to just squeeze in there. I don't want to risk travelling at night if we can help it."

Naruto nodded, and shouldered through the curtain of roots, sprinkling them with dirt as he did so. "Ack! Sorry…" he mumbled, setting her down in the small enclosure. Reaching into his pack, he pulled out a camouflage sheet, one he had used many times to escape pursuers after pranks. Feeling around in his weapons pouch, he sighed as he realized he didn't have any senbon. Not really wanting to put a whole kunai through the sheet just to pin it up for extra protection from enemy eyes, he looked around him for something else.

Sakura had twisted around onto her hands and knees, trying to at least make a sort of pillow to support them, as the tight space would be quite uncomfortable otherwise. Suddenly, she felt something her butt, and she squeaked, whirling around with a red face. "NARUTO! WHAT are you doing?"

He recoiled slightly, and muttered out, "I just wanted to know if you had any senbon…"

Almost instantly, she calmed down. It wasn't right for her to react so violently, it has never been like him to just grope somebody, so perhaps she should have realized it was a tap, not a grab. "O-Oh. Right, here, sorry," she said, fishing around in her weapons pouch and handed him a couple of the thin metal rods.

"Thanks." Turning around, he pinned the cover up behind to the roots, effectively curtain, hiding them from view. Crouching down, he looked at her nervously for a moment before saying, "So, uh… How,- How are we doing this?"

Sakura finished arranging her pack as a pillow and moved out of the way. With a slight tint to her face, she said. "Lay down on your back."

Doing as he was told, he watched curiously as she shifted around and laid partially on top of him, basically hugging her body to his right side. He stiffened when, a few minutes later, she wiggled around, trying to get comfortable.

Sakura couldn't quite believe that she had even considered this. Well, she wouldn't have, had this been two days ago. But now he was her only teammate, her only source of strength from which to pull. Of course, he had always been that, of his own violation, but this was different. She was sleeping with the guy! Well, okay, not really _sleeping_ with him, but she was _on_ him! What would Sas-

…

'I don't even want to think about that guy,' she said to herself, 'He's an asshole, and a prick, and… and a TRAITOR! Who cares what he would think? Not me! I didn't care what he would have thought when I kissed Naruto, and I certainly don't care now! Naruto is right, it's just him and me, now, Sasuke has nothing to do with it.' Her Inner Persona agreed whole-heartedly, currently smashing a chibi-Sasuke's nuts with a giant hammer, over and over. 'Who the hell cares that Naruto and I are like this? We'll be up and at the tower in no time. It's not like this'll be a reoccurring thing.'

But was it? Some part of her felt comfortable with another body against her. No, she corrected herself, _Naruto's_ body against her. He was warm, and she just fit his side so well, it was hard not to feel relaxed and… and _safe._

That was it, wasn't it? Naruto made her feel safe. He always had. But that didn't mean she was falling for him, OH no. She couldn't be, right?

…

Right?

Inner Sakura was silent, for once, though she was hiding a Naruto doll behind her back. 'Traitor.' Sakura said to her, before forcibly leaving the conversation that was sure to drive her insane. Wriggling around for a nice little nook to fit her body into against the boy next to her, she felt him stiffen his whole body. "This okay?" she asked, hiding her nervousness.

Naruto relaxed when she stopped moving, and nodded. "Y-Yeah."

All was silent for a moment as they each tried to slow their heart rate. Sakura spoke first, "So, I was thinking… What ARE we going to tell Kakashi-sensei? And will we be able to continue to the next stage?" 'Assuming we live that long,' she added, silently.

Naruto didn't respond immediately, it was a confusing situation. Technically, they shouldn't be allowed to pass this exam, since it was stated that the whole team must survive. Then again, the whole team DID survive; as far as they knew, Sasuke was still out there, somewhere, with that Sound girl. He betrayed them, and tried to get one of them killed, but officially, they were still a team. Voicing this, he felt as Sakura's head nod in agreement.

"Yeah, but if he doesn't reach the tower with us, will all three of us fail? That's what I'm worried about, that if we get there before him, we won't qualify."

Naruto smiled that she went straight to the assumption that they would reach the tower before the Uchiha. 'I wonder if she's realized what he is, yet.' "We'll just have to play it calm when we get there and explain what happened. I'm sure if we tell the whole truth, somebody important will believe us. Honesty counts for a lot among comrades."

"Is that why you told me about the Kyuubi?"

Naruto's smile faded slightly, but stayed in place, looking more sad than cheerful. "Yeah, partially. You asked, and so I told you. You can't tell anyone, though. It's a massive secret that only a handful of people know the whole story of. Most just have a perverted version, or bastardized view on it."

Sakura nodded, completely understanding. "I promise again, Naruto. I won't tell anyone your secret." She hugged him tighter to her at that, strengthening her statement.

Naruto smiled warmly once again, and slithered his right arm under and around her, holding her just as tightly. "Thanks, Sakura-chan. Besides, I felt like the more you know about me, the less of a reason you have not to trust me. And the more you trust me, the more I'll get to hug a beautiful girl," he finished, fishing for a positive response, trying to make her blush cutely, hoping to restore some of their old routine, and maybe checking on her position about Sasuke all at once.

He got three out of four, which wasn't too bad, in his opinion. She did blush, which was definitely cute. And she gave a positive response while simultaneously not mentioning Sasuke, "Thanks Naruto, you always make me feel better, even when I'm not feeling all that bad to start with." However, his hopes of normality were dashed as she kissed him for the second time that day, though this time on the cheek, and then cuddled even closer to him, if that was possible. Yeah, three out of four definitely isn't too bad.

Naruto felt Sakura fall asleep against him and soon let the same happen to him. Tomorrow they would get to the tower and figure out what to do about Sasuke and their team, but right now was sleep time. And there was little sleep better than what there was to be had by those two that night.

~*~HJN~*~

I really didn't want to end the chapter here, but I really really wanted to get something out so you all would know I'm still here. And two 'really's' overpower a slightly shorter than normal chapter. If you have a problem with this story or where it's going…. I don't care either way. This was made for a specific person, and I will only care about others if they end up liking it as a pure consequence.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: I have no excuse this time. Life, work, relations, I could try any one of those and they'd all be true, but it'd taste like ash anyways. I honestly just learned that I made a serious canon continuity error in the heaven and earth scrolls, and just didn't know how to address it for SO LONG. You see, I said that the Amegakure team Naruto fought had an Earth scroll, and I was wrong, they had Heaven. I also said that Gaara's team had Heaven and I was wrong. They had Earth, which is why the umbrella team from Ame that he killed allowed them to pass, since they had a Heaven scroll. Dosu's team had an Earth scroll, and Naruto didn't even check Dosu or Zaku for their scroll. So I'm a moron, but we're going to ignore all that. This is AU. I couldn't come up with a nice way to fix it this late in while still having the Gaara encounter, and I HATE retro-editing previous chapters to either fix a mistake or cater to a newer chapter anyway. So we'll all just accept that I fucked up on that and leave it as-is. Anyway... here it is, I guess. I'm entirely unhappy with it, but I'll leave the judgement up to you guys. You deserve SOMETHING after all this time, and I feel like the characterization I put into this, as well as the bit of half-angst fluff I managed will make it a nice read, anyway.

Enjoy~

)~HJN~(

Chapter 3 –

Naruto awoke to that odd air that you get in the wild in the mornings. That cold nip that leaves you refreshed and ready to go, while still somehow making you want to stay in bed.

There was another reason he just wanted to lay there, however. It consisted of two parts. One: they had both scrolls, and thereby had no reason to rush. Sleeping in was something they could afford to do, now. Two: Sakura had huddled completely on top of him in the middle of the night, and seemed to have tried to burrow her head into his chest.

Yes, Naruto was in heaven. Unfortunately, heaven was very high and he wasn't dead. And so, inevitably, he fell as the pink-haired girl of his dreams slowly woke up.

Groaning a little in stiffness, Sakura tilted her head up and looked at him. "Morning, Naruto."

The blonde smiled a little, and responded in kind. "Morning, Sakura-chan." Suddenly at a loss for conversation topics, he latched onto the first thing in his head, no matter how dorky it sounded. "H-how'd you sleep?"

Sakura rolled off of him and sat up in the extremely low cave. "Well enough." Her eyes got big for a second before she turned an interrogating eye to the boy. "And you? Did you sleep _at all_, Naruto?"

He chuckled and awkwardly shifted into a crouch. "Yes, ma'am. I'm rested and ready to go, I promise!"

She nodded and turned to ready their packs. "Good. We need to get to the tower without encountering anyone, so you need to be in top form. My leg is still a little off."

Naruto shifted around to the mouth of their cave-hole and peeked out the camouflage sheet and through the roots. "That's fine. Just means I get to carry you some more, ne?"

Sakura made a soft 'tsk!' noise, but it was in jest. Truthfully, she was still rather surprised that he didn't count it as a burden. She shook her head, chalking it up to his crush on her. Those clones of his certainly didn't hurt.

Naruto sent out some of those very clones to survey the area and folded up his camouflage sheet. The clones came back when they were finished getting ready to leave, and one of them picked Sakura up.

"Ready to go Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, once again carrying the packs.

She nodded from the clone's arms, and they set off.

(~Spectral~)  
>(~Spectral~)<p>

Sasuke glowered at the girl as he waited. It technically wasn't her fault, but as she was the only living thing nearby, his irritation was directed straight at Kin. She, however, didn't seem to notice, leaning against a tree and fingering a senbon. That was another thing that irked him. He had only bad memories of senbon due to that Ice-bitch in Wave, and he automatically disliked anyone who used them because of it. A few times he'd had to squash the urge to gouge out her eyes with a REAL weapon, like a Fuuma Shuriken or something. Still, even his own focused mind could not ignore her physical attractiveness. Once Itachi was dead, perhaps Kin might make decent breeding cattle for the resurrection of his clan.

He had no time to continue that thought, as a voice suddenly called out to them. A very creepy voice. "Ah, Kin-san. You've managed to bring Sasuke-kun to me.. Did he come willingly?"

Sasuke redirected his glare to the newcomer. No sound was made at their arrival, and Sasuke hadn't sensed him whatsoever. If this was the man that was to give him the power he was promised, he was already looking forward to it.

Although he could do without the very unnerving stare the long-haired man was giving him...

Kin nodded and pushed off of the tree. "Hai, Orochimaru-sama. I was a little surprised at how easily he betrayed his team, but it worked out in the end. A loudmouth died, and Zaku and Dosu got something to play with." She paused, frowning. "Come to think of it, where are those two.. They should have been here by now."

Orochimaru chuckled. Sasuke immediately knew this was a madman from the sound, but he couldn't deny the dark power hidden beneath the surface. "Oh I found them on my way here. You don't have to worry. Kukuku... They're dead."

Kin gasped and took a step back. "Y-.. You mean you..."

Orochimaru looked offended, if possible. "Of course not. They did their job well- they've not once failed me in their short careers. No, I found them with the extra holes already... installed." He smiled, and Sasuke got a little excited. That smile promised something. If it was a fight, then Sasuke would get to prove his strength against a Sennin. If it was something else... Sasuke could think of at least one thing that would be in his favor at the moment.

Orochimaru walked forward across the clearing, and Sasuke could feel Kin freeze and sink into herself, trying to appear small. That wasn't very like the girl as far as he had known her. Clearly she was afraid of her master. "Now, Sasuke-kun... You know why you are here. I will grant you power beyond your imagining. I would like to make a few things clear. I will give you this power. I will help you with your goal of killing your brother. I will even take you away from this wretched village full of morons and train you myself." Sasuke was particularly gleeful at that last one. "However. When the time comes, I will have your body." Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise and confusion. As well as a bit of fear and disgust. "I wish to be eternal. Immortal. I wish to be the only one with this power. One day, when your body is ready and you have accomplished your goals... I will be the one inhabiting it. You may, of course, try to resist. You can deny all of this right now. But I **will** be placing my mark on you today. You **will** receive the power you were promised. And even if you deny me now, you **will** seek me out one day for control over that power. And if you resist when it is ultimately time for me to have your body... Well..." his smile turned foul and terrifying, his teeth seeming razor sharp as a long, disgusting tongue crept out and wet the pearly knives. A wave of fear paralyzed Sasuke, a vision of him dying painfully flashing across his mind, gone as fast as it arrived. "... I'd like to see you try."

Sasuke, released from the killer intent, took a few breaths and only a moment to answer. "Give me this power."

(~Spectral~)  
>(~Spectral~)<p>

Naruto, Sakura and the clones stayed in the higher canopy, avoiding the ground and any traps that might be in place there. Sakura's idea, obviously. The new appendages didn't come with a boost in intelligence, unfortunately. Regardless, they made good time as the sun rose, growing closer to the tower with each leap. The problem was that they were being followed.

Normally, being aware of such a thing would make things easier on them. Obviously, they just had to find some way of setting up an ambush for their pursuers- likely making use of Naruto's clones- and either take them out entirely or otherwise dissuade them from chasing him and Sakura anymore. Slight issue with that, though: They'd tried. And each time, Naruto's clones had been somehow completely bypassed without ever having so much as seen their adversary. It was really starting to irritate him if he was honest, and Sakura seemed to be getting worried.

She was just about to suggest another plan of action when a kunai came up from behind and imbedded itself in the tree they had just been about to land on. When Naruto saw the paper attached to the knife he almost panicked, but something threw him off. _'That's not an explosive tag...'_ He allowed himself to land on the branch as normal while his clone angled its skeletal wings to glide to another perch, keeping Sakura safe if something happened. Naruto could survive a single explosive tag- Sakura in her current state might not, and even if she did the clone holding her would be dispelled and she would fall to the forest floor.

He stood above the kunai, looking at the paper with suspicion. It certainly wasn't any kind of explosive, though it was a seal in a sense. It was the Konoha seal- the stylized swirling leaf that they all wore on their hitai-ite. Someone had drawn the Leaf symbol on a piece of paper and thrown it at them.

When their pursuers caught up to them in the next few moments due to his stopping, it became clear as to why: They were trying to announce that they were from Konoha. Naruto turned on the branch to regard the team that had been chasing them, his tail swishing through the air in a flourish as he did so. "What do you guys want, dattebayo?"

They'd have to forgive him for his blunt and cold attitude- he hadn't really had the best couple of days, to be sure.

Sure enough, they didn't seem the least put out by his demeanor. One of the males simply stared with his pupilless, cream-white eyes before speaking, "I wanted to know what was going on with your team. Lee and I were both curious as to how you had been handling the test." Hyuuga Neji took a pointless glance around- his Byakugan was active for Pete's sake. "Ignoring Haruno-san's obvious injury and your obvious physical changes, I cannot help but notice that Uchiha-san is not here, and hasn't been for at least as long as we have been tracking you."

To his credit, Naruto did not immediately put a hole in the tree at the mention of his (ex?)teammate's name. Instead he merely set his jaw as his tail thrashed a bit more violently for a moment before resuming its normal swaying. In the most matter-of-fact and cold tone anyone present had ever heard from him, he answered the unspoken question. "He literally stabbed me in the back and abandoned us while I almost died." His comment was accompanied by a swish of his tail, and a brief flexing of his wings. He had the forethought to exclude the details about what Sakura had endured- that was her monster to face, it wasn't his place to talk about it with others.

The girl of Neji's group _'I think her name is Tenten or something?'_ gasped loudly, looking between Naruto and Sakura, shock very clear in her eyes. The other boy, Rock Lee, widened his eyes before they closed and he shook his head, muttering "Most unyouthful" under his breath.

If Neji was shocked by the news, he didn't show it. And since Naruto didn't seem to want to expound on the details, Neji wasn't dumb enough to try and force the issue. "Then he is a fool, and he will earn his due punishment at the end of the exam," he said simply as though it were the most reasonable response.

Naruto just scoffed, an odd noise coming from the usually boisterous blonde. "Yeah, keep dreamin'. He or somebody kissing his ass will make up some lame excuse and he'll get out of it scot-free, all because of his fucking heritage."

Neji raised an eyebrow, but seemed to think about it. Naruto didn't know what was going through the other teen's head, but eventually the clear-eyed boy nodded. "Indeed." There was a pause, then, "I understand your frustration, Naruto-san. His betrayal aside, the special treatment of our high-born peers is disgusting." Another pause, in which Naruto slowly scanned Neji and his female teammate, trying to determine their fighting styles from their gear and stances. He wasn't doing a very good job of it, not without the experience needed for such an analysis. He thought the girl might use something to do with genjutsu...

Lee spoke next, his eyes sad. "I do not know why he would do that... But Naruto-kun... What exactly has happened to _you_?"

Naruto flinched. It was only a moment, but Lee briefly sounded accusing before it became clear that he was just concerned. He hadn't thought about it that way until now: that he had possibly done something wrong by unleashing this power. That it might have been a bad idea. He pushed the thought down and away, leaving it for later or never, whichever came last. Instead he hastened to answer, making up some pride as he went, "Uh, Puberty? Who knows, maybe I secretly come from some crazy clan? Nobody knows my parents, nobody even knows who I am or where I came from, 'tebayo. For all I know, this is normal for an Uzumaki!" He grinned at the end, allowing himself to believe it for a while.

Lee started to mutter another question, but Neji cut him off. "Unlikely, but as fair an assumption as anything else. Now that the... not-so-pleasantries are out of the way, I am required to ask if you intend to fight us. Be warned that you will surely lose if you do."

Naruto frowned and glared at him. "Hey, you're the ones who were following us, we should be asking that, 'tebayo! And what the hell do you mean that we'll lose?!"

The bun-haired girl (Naruto was _sure_ her name was Tenten) interjected, seemingly trying to diffuse a situation. "N-Neji was talking about your team disadvantage! You're down one and another is injured!" She chuckled nervously for a moment. "E-even if you used those weird.. solid clones, you'd still be just one person, one style up against three."

Neji spoke again before Naruto could respond, "I was telling the truth earlier. We were curious to what was going on what with your team in the state that it is. We have both of our scrolls, and I doubt you truly want to risk fighting us for them."

Naruto clenched his fist at being told that he had little to no chance, but a glance at Sakura reminded him of their predicament and he backed down. Besides... "We already have both scrolls, too, so I guess there's no reason to fight right now... But mark my words if you throw a challenge like that at me again, I'll put your head in the ground, dattebayo!"

Whether Neji knew what the challenge he had apparently issued was or not, he smirked anyway. "I look forward to testing that, Naruto-san."

And with nary a bow nor a wave, Team Gai leapt away back into the trees, cutting a wide berth and apparently taking a less direct route to the tower before Naruto lost sight of them. He took a mental 10-count before breathing out slowly, turning to look at Sakura again and smiling. "See? I can be diplomatic!"

Sakura rolled her eyes a little and gave him a withering smile. "Yes Naruto, I can see you handled that brilliantly." Naruto rubbed his nose and grinned, happy with the half-joking praise. "Can we move on now? Every moment we stay out here is another moment that my leg is swelling and **not** getting treatment."

Naruto turned serious in an instant and nodded, he and his bunshin sharing a look before they each started heading towards the tower again. The emotional switch almost gave Sakura whiplash as she stared at the side of the original's face from the clone's arms.

Something had definitely changed in the blonde, beneath and beyond the obvious. As she thought about it, she wasn't even sure it was entirely Sasuke's betrayal that was causing it. It was part of it, obviously, but something else was eating at him. It had almost since he had left her with his clones to talk to the Suna team... Did they say something to unnerve him? Or was he still worried about her knowing of his... _guest_? She'd have to talk to him once they were safe and had some privacy. As the only (in her mind) remaining members of Team 7, they had to stick together.

And with that thought, she was forced to admit that she had also changed. Sasuke- ... The Uchiha that she thought she knew... She wasn't even sure he had ever existed, now. For weeks he had been growing colder, crueler, angrier. And her eyes now opened as they were, she couldn't seem to find her fantasy in the real thing. Not in the past, and certainly not now.

Not when she could look at Naruto, see the rage and frustration, the pain and the hate in his grinding jaw, and feel the exact same things in herself. Naruto had worried about this, she could see that now. Perhaps not to this degree, but he had been having doubts about Sasuke lately. It was so obvious in his eyes, the more she looked. They were filled with the kind of regret that someone who, having expected or at least suspected a tragedy, didn't act in time to prevent it.

She couldn't help herself, her mouth opened and the words tumbled out before she could blink, "It's not your fault, Naruto."

He twitched his head to look at her, one skeletal wing adjusting and angling to land properly on the next branch without losing his momentum. "Huh? What are you talking about, Sakura-chan?"

She took a half a second to decide her words, this time. "You can't blame yourself for what happened. Whether you had been able to fight him or not, he'd still have betrayed us. ... He took the first opportunity, Naruto. You did everything you could and more."

Naruto's eyes were downcast, not looking terribly convinced. He struggled with his voice for a moment. "I-.. I shou..."

"We'll talk later, Naruto. Now isn't the place, I know. I'm sorry," she said, looking away, feeling as though she had made him feel worse.

He quickly wiped away that feeling, though. "N-no! It's okay. Thanks, Sakura-chan." He gave her that honest smile she had recently discovered, her own face brightening when she saw the real gratitude on his.

They continued in a mostly comfortable silence the rest of the way, each one left to their own thoughts as they navigated the canopy.

(~Spectral~)  
>(~Spectral~)<p>

"Are we... supposed to open them, now?"

Sakura nodded, seeing nothing else to do. "I think so. We made it here, so..."

Naruto carefully peeled open the seal on the Heaven scroll, wary but excited. When nothing bad immediately happened, he continued unrolling it, watching with confusion as some strange glyph-like lines were revealed, leading to and from a large blank spot in the middle.

He looked at Sakura in confusion. "I don't think I get it."

She wriggles a moment, wincing imperceptibly when her too-tight shirt pinches under her arms. "Here, let me down. I can stand, at least."

The clone quickly obliged, remaining remarkably quiet considering who made it. Sakura stood gingerly, resting most of her weight on her right leg to keep the injured one from complaining. She held the Earth scroll in her hands, and pulled it open. Inside was an almost identical copy of the other one. Looking between the two, her eyes slowly widened. "It's a seal... Naruto, lay them down crossing each other, overlap the two blank spaces!"

As she handed him the other scroll, he hastened to do so while Sakura leaned against his clone. Once he was done, he backed up to stand next to her while the seal seemed to start glowing, a new kanji writing itself into the blank space.

Sakura took a quick glance at the original Naruto and gasped. "Naruto! Your- Your bones, put them away!"

"Huh? W-why, Sakura-chan?"

"A ninja should keep his secrets as long as possible! Plus, the less they ask about yesterday, the better off I'll be..."

She hoped he would get the message, but whether he did or not he still complied. With an almost whispered rattling-tinkle, the wings and tails of both Narutos retracted, vanishing from sight and receding into his body.

Almost as soon as he did, the Kanji finished filling itself in, briefly spelling out 'Man' before a column of smoke popped from the seal, dispersing to reveal...

"IRUKA-SENSEI!"

"OOF! H-hello to you too, Naruto.."

Sakura smiled when her teammate all but _glomped_ their former teacher, but quickly cleared her throat to get Naruto's attention, giving him a soft but meaningful look. He understood and let go of Iruka, stepping back to stand next to her, his smile still present but muted.

Iruka smiled at them, ignoring the presence of the Kage Bunshin. "Naruto, Sakura. Congratulations! I am so proud of you for making it here and retrieving those scrolls."

Naruto frowned, anticipating the next few words and deciding it would be better to present the information first like Sakura had suggested on their way here. "Iruka-sensei... There's something we need to tell you about... Sasuke."

Iruka stopped smiling immediately, as though it were a mask that had dropped. "We know Naruto. We got the report in a little while ago."

(~Spectral~)  
>(~Spectral~)<p>

"_/Repeat, Orochimaru is IN the Forest, over!/"_ _'I've got you now, you bastard...'_ Racing through the trees, she ignored the pain in her shoulder as she caught a brief sight of her prey traveling perpendicular to her. She angled slightly to cut them off, resulting in them all stopping, the opposing sides facing off.

Mitarashi Anko kept her guard up as she took mental stock of the two genin her old master had with him: Tsuchi Kin and- _'Uchiha Sasuke?! So, that's your game, is it Orochimaru?'_ "You're after the Sharingan, then?" Her first words since intercepting them, and she sounded amused.

Orochimaru chuckled darkly. "Ku, ku, ku... Anko-chan... Kin-chan, take Sasuke-kun to the Delta hideout. I'll follow along later...

(~Spectral~)  
>(~Spectral~)<p>

Iruka shook his head. "I'm sorry Naruto, Sakura. Nobody was able to catch or stop him. He's left the village, and branded himself a traitor." He prepared for the outburst, the argument, but it didn't come. Well, an outburst did.

""Good!"" Naruto and Sakura both shouted, fully united on this subject by now. Naruto took up the conversation when their previous teacher looked confused, his face set in a scowl. "That..._bastard_ literally stabbed me in the back, and I would have died if not for... well, certain reasons."

Iruka assumed exactly what Naruto wanted him to and nodded, not requiring any further explanation. That didn't excuse his shock, though. "He.. He stabbed you?"

Sakura, her eyes already growing wet at the thought, shouted out now. "And he left **me** to get ra-" She choked on the word, her body shivering for a moment before Naruto quickly threw his arm around her, hugging her sideways and rubbing her shoulder. Surprisingly to the males present, she just gently wiped her eyes on his shoulder and stayed there, not speaking anymore. Naruto turned back to glare at Iruka, daring him to question that one.

Iruka, though, wasn't stupid. That was no act, not from either of them. Having taught them both for their entire Academy years, he knew them fairly well. Then again, he _thought_ he knew Sasuke, too...

Iruka straightened his back, every year of his career fueling and supporting his posture. "I need to tell some higher-ups about this. Some questions also need to be asked and answered regarding your.. place in these Exams, now." Seeing them crestfallen again, he smiled and relaxed a bit. "Congratulations again on making it this far, and so quickly, even with such a damaged team. Whether you two end up qualifying for the Third Exam or not, what you've done here is still an accomplishment to be admired. If you go up these stairs you'll enter the tower proper. There are rooms all over, feel free to take a couple of empty ones and rest up. A medic-nin will be around tonight to make sure you're not going to die before the test is over, but they aren't permitted to really heal you." He saw their grimaces and glanced down at Sakura's splinted and purpled leg. "Sorry, Sakura. I'll see if I can at least get a brace for that."

And with that, Iruka vanished in another puff of smoke, leaving the two(plus clone) alone.

Naruto turned towards her as she lifted her head to look at him, her eyes drying again. "Let's go find someplace to prop your leg up, it's still swelling a lot."

She nodded and reached with her left hand to hold his right shoulder automatically as he bent slightly to pick her up in his arms. The clone dispersed itself, and once again Naruto had to pause as memories that weren't quite his own flooded his mind. _'That's starting to get annoying. I may have to cut down on the Kage Bunshin..'_

Walking carefully up the stairs, he navigated through a hallway and a door, finding a sort of rest area with couches, tables, and a television monitor. He walked right passed and through a doorway, finding yet more stairs to climb. Here he found a floor with halls and doors, presumably the rooms Iruka mentioned. Small blackboards were next to all the doors, pieces of chalk resting on them. As they walked, they passed quite a few with X's on them, and weren't sure what to make of those. A couple had a village symbol and a number, or other such name or identifier. One was from Sunagakure, and Naruto and Sakura wondered if it was Gaara's team.

Eventually they found a few that seemed to be empty, and after a quick knock to check, Naruto took Sakura into one, the pinkette drawing the Leaf symbol under a big number 7 on the board before Naruto closed and locked the door. Inside was a sparsely furnished room. A desk and chair and a double bed. The window had its curtains closed, but the lightswitch worked, turning on a wall light over the desk and filling the room adequately. Naruto carefully got Sakura onto the bed and finally slipped their packs from his shoulders, setting them down and getting some water out. After they had had a drink, Naruto drug the chair over to the bed and sat down, sinking in relief. "Haaa, we made it..."

Sakura fiddled with the ties on her splint, the swelling having caused them to dig into her flesh painfully. Upon noticing, Naruto helped her untie it until she sighed on the relaxed pressure, the splint halves falling slack onto the bed. Naruto stared at the swelling, the bruise a blotted black and angry purple. "H-how is it?"

She kept her eyes closed and shook her head, relaxing onto the pillow. "It throbs and hurts when anything touches it. I haven't tried actually moving it in a while, but I'm scared to try. I'm afraid I'll blackout if I try to walk..." She opened her eyes and smiled a little at him. "But I'm sure it'd be a lot worse without you. I wouldn't be here without you, I wouldn't still be a..."

Naruto looked away, his face dark. They were quiet for a moment, Sakura's attempted thanks dying on her tongue when the mood changed. Then, suddenly, her eyes snapped to him, and widened at his question.

"Am I a bad person for killing them?"

Sakura answered almost immediately, passionate about her answer. "Absolutely not, Naruto! They t-tried to.. T-that sort of thing may happen in our line of work, but that doesn't make it right! You did what any other shinobi- no, what any _good man_ would have done if they could!" She reached out and held his hand, smiling gratefully again. "You're good, Naruto. You're a good man. Thank you. I... I don't think I can ever repay you, for saving me. For letting me.. keep my choice."

Naruto blushed at the attention. It was honestly more than he had ever gotten. "I... Sure, Sakura-chan. Thanks." She squeezed his hand again, but he wasn't finished yet. "But I was also thinking about that Ame team..."

Sakura immediately sobered, understanding. Rapists were one thing, but those guys were just another team, trying to pass. Still, she couldn't help but feel a bit jaded at the moment. And she was especially affected by Naruto's mood; he shouldn't ever be so grim, she thought. "I don't think you had much choice. They probably would have caused problems for us later if you had let them go, and they were clearly trying to kill us. You have to remember, Naruto: they are the enemy."

"We're at peace, Sakura-chan."

She shook her head, and slightly surprised herself with her next insight, "No, we just aren't in open war. Ino was telling me once about something her dad told her... That the Chuunin Exams are a way for all the 'peaceful' nations to vent frustration, flex their muscles, and show off. Our 'allies' are more like 'people we mutually tolerate'. We aren't at war, but we still want to assert and proclaim our power. It's at once a challenge and a warning.

"That's where the joint Chuunin Exams comes in. The villages that visit the host always send their best, to show off what the best of their _lowest ranking_ shinobi can do. It's also because there are no field promotions." Naruto scrunched his face in confusion, so she explained. "In wartime, a ninja would be promoted on merit, in the field. Without a war, there just aren't enough important missions to go around, at least not that we can trust a Genin with. So we have the exams to make sure that promotions are still awarded to those that deserve it.

"I think this part of the exams is supposed to simulate a watered-down version of what it's like to be behind enemy lines, surrounded by opponents while trying to acquire an objective. Everyone is an enemy, out there. That's the point."

Naruto stared at her and smiled. "Wow, Sakura-chan! You're so smart! I never would have figured that out."

She laughed, but brushed it aside in favor of keeping him on track. "But you do get it now, right? Ame is more of a military nation than we are. Those guys might not have ever stopped coming after us if you had let them go."

Naruto nodded, "Yeah.. It still bothers me a little but... I think that's a good thing."

She smiled and squeezed his hand. "Yes, it is. It means you're still human, you're still you. Don't ever stop being you." Sakura felt the conversation taper off and shifted her body slightly, trying to get comfortable. But she winced when she moved her injured leg, and she kept wincing as searing hot knives spread through her leg even after she froze. Naruto hurried to open his pack and pull out a spare pair of pants, rolling them up and saying, "We should elevate that, right? I'll.. I'll need to lift it, Sakura-chan."

The pinkette groaned in both pain and the expectation of pain. "Just give me something to squeeze..."

He shifted from the chair to sitting on the bed to make it easier for him, inadvertently putting his leg in reach of Sakura. She quickly took advantage and grasped onto his knee, squeezing already in anticipation. He winced, but said nothing as he gingerly held her heel with on hand, slowly lifting it until he could slide the roll of pants under her ankle. The pressure on his knee increased dramatically, to the point where he knew it was bruised, but still he said nothing. It was, after all, nothing in comparison to dying.

Once her leg was settled again and he made sure it wouldn't roll to either side, her grip lessened immensely. He turned to look at her and saw her letting go of her pillow, having obviously turned to bite it and muffle her screams. He admired her strength. Sakura looked back up at him, panting but thankful. "It stopped throbbing so hard... Thank you, Naruto-san." She chuckled breathlessly, "I seem to be thanking you a lot, lately. I really owe you."

Naruto tried to smile, but his forehead was still creased, and he started fidgeting. He looked away from Sakura's eyes and down at his hands, deep in thought.

Sakura's face twisted in worry. Had she made him upset? Or had she reminded him of what had been bothering him lately? She glanced at the door, and deemed it sealed enough. They likely wouldn't be overheard. "Naruto. What's wrong? Something's been eating at you for a while, and I know it's more than just- the Uchiha.."

Naruto was startled that she had noticed, and even more surprised by the way she addressed their former teammate. But, he supposed, she appeared to have been on the same page as him for a while now. He looked away again, clenching his fists and thinking through his words. "Everything's... changing..." He paused, and she didn't interrupt. "Sasuke's gone. He was always a dick, but now he's a traitor and he's gone. This new... _power_ I have. I don't know what it is, 'tebayo. I don't know how it got into me, and I don't even know if there's more it can do." While she was still lost for words, he rushed on, trying to get it all out at once, "And you've changed, too! You're being so much nicer. And quiet. You've been trusting me a lot, and taking me seriously. We've been talking, and you haven't hit me, yet. I-I'm not complaining! It's just... different. I'm not really sure what to do, anymore..."

Sakura was stunned, to say the least. She could see her silence making him more uncomfortable, so she quickly cleared her throat and tried to answer his implied question. "Ah... Um.. wow. I-.. I guess I have, huh?" She thought about it, trying to understand this realization, herself. Well, she had been thinking some things recently. "... I've been feeling like I want to be closer to you. Like... Like it's really important that we stick together, you know?"

He watched her as she fumbled through her thoughts, understanding what it was like. "I mean... my parents were never really excited for me to be a Kunoichi... And I guess I never took it seriously because of that. And now a big part of my reason to be one is gone, turned out to be a literal backstabbing... **bastard!** ... So... I had been wondering a bit... why I should continue...

"Seeing you fight, though... The way you protected me... I wanted to do that. I want. To protect people. To keep the kinds of things that happened to you, that almost happened to me... I want to prevent those things from happening to others. I want," she realized, a tone of surprise entering her voice, "to teach... Yeah.. I want to teach people to protect themselves." She looked up at his sapphire eyes, her own emerald orbs wide and wet. "And I want you and I to stay together. My parents don't support me, my best friend turned my other friends against me and became my rival," she silently reminded herself to talk to Ino before word got out about Sasuke. It would be easier to hear it from her. "My crush betrayed us and left the village... I've only got you left, Naruto." She let go of his hand to reach up and dry her eyes, reigning in her emotions. "We've got to stick together. If you can promise you'll be always be here for me, then I promise the same!"

Naruto... was dumbstruck, honestly. He felt a pain in his chest from just how much pain she was in, but he was also feeling so elated... More than a teammate, more than a friend, she wanted to be his partner. And he was only too excited to agree, "I promise, Sakura-chan. I give you _my word._ ... Do you know what my nindo is?" She shook her head, already smiling broadly. "I never go back on my word. That is my nindo, my ninja way."

She giggled a little at his super-serious face. "That's a good nindo, Naruto. Okay. Then I won't either! I promise too, Naruto-kun. I give my word."

Naruto grinned, and lifted his right arm to her, tilting it to the side so it crossed his chest. She smiled and did the same, their wrists colliding and locking together in their oath.

A knock at the door made them jump slightly, but they relaxed when a voice called through asking if anyone needed medical attention. Naruto stood and called an affirmative, unlocking the door and letting the man in.

Almost twenty minutes later and he had left, apologizing again that he couldn't do more. Naruto closed and, as an afterthought, locked the door again.

Sakura looked at the bandages, new plastic splint and compression brace wrapped around her left leg. "Well, it's throbbing again. Doesn't really hurt, though."

Naruto came back over and sat on the chair, also observing the wrappings. "At least it was only a fracture, right?"

She nodded, thankful for that. "If I'm lucky, I'll be able to walk in a week," she said, almost echoing what the medic-nin had told them.

"What are you going to do about the Third Task?"

Sakura could tell that he was nervous about asking. It really was sweet how he was being so careful with her emotions, but she was tougher than that. "It'll have to depend on what it is, and when. I might still be able to, or I might be well enough to participate by the time it happens. We still have two days before the Second Task is over, remember?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I guess that's true. Well, whatever it is, we'll take care of it together, right?"

She smiled and nodded emphatically, "Yeah! Together."

The conversation from there moved to the other teams in the competition, but there was only one non-Konoha team that they really knew anything about.

"I don't really think Gaara is that bad, Sakura-chan. He seemed reasonable when I talked to him, 'tebayo. Creepy and a little unstable, but basically okay."

Sakura shook her head and worried her lip. "I'm not so sure... I don't know, there's just something about him that doesn't feel safe."

Naruto shrugged. "Well what about his teammates? Supposedly they're all siblings, right?"

"That's what Kabuto-san said, yeah. And I don't know. The kabuki boy seems mean, and the sister seems bossy. Other than that... I think they're scared of their brother."

Naruto had to agree, there. "Yeah, they did, huh? Maybe.. we _should_ watch out for him..."

He thought back to his encounter in the forest, still convinced that Gaara could be reasoned with if it came down to it. His thoughts wandered and he blushed as he remembered the thank-you kiss Sakura had given him shortly after that. It was so soft, and brief, and gentle. _'I can't believe my first real kiss was with Sakura-chan! Yatta~'_

Sakura noticed his red and excited face, quirking an eyebrow. "What are you thinking about, now?"

He snapped out of his thoughts and panicked. "Oh, uh, n-nothing! Just.. something that happened earlier, heheh..." He scratched his cheek in embarrassment, not making eye contact and still blushing.

Sakura got a sly expression on her face, suddenly feeling like teasing him. "Oh? And what was it, Naruto?" She had a pretty good idea of the general topic, but couldn't be sure. "Were you... Thinking about me naked?" she finished quickly, grinning teasingly at him.

He recoiled and waved his hands about, "NO! No, no, I swear, 'tebayo! You..." He calmed down and looked away, "You were vulnerable... I could never think about that time in that way..."

Her smiled softened and she took his hand in hers, making him look at her. "That's sweet, Naruto. Thank you... But that still begs the question of what you WERE thinking about!"

Just when he thought he was safe, he started sweating again. "Ah..." Deciding it was probably best to just tell her when she was in this mood, he sighed. "I was... thinking about that kiss..."

She blushed, but quirked her eyebrow. "Oh yeah? Trying to think of a way to get another one, huh?"

Surprisingly, he didn't freak out again. Just calmly shook his head. "Not really. Just... how nice it was. It was my first kiss... that counted anyway," he added in a huff, still angry.

Sakura giggled, knowing what he was referring to. Still, she couldn't help but tease him some more, yet Sasuke was a forbidden topic at the moment. So, "Well, I would hardly say that one I gave you counted either, Naruto." She watched his jaw fall open in shock, a comical despair falling over his face. "It was hardly more than a peck, you know. Nope, sorry. I guess you'll just have to find a way to get a better one!"

She really wasn't sure why she kept teasing him like this; almost leading him on. She could admit that she had _some_ feelings for him. It was only natural, after all, with all he had done and the way he had been acting lately. She was worried, however, about how much of it was just her attraction to Sasuke latching onto another target. She'd brought it up at the time, but wasn't that exactly what she was doing?

No, she decided. At least not completely. Maybe that was some of it, but she was genuinely wanting Naruto around; he made her feel safe, wanted, cared for. For a lot of reasons, some of them worse than others, but they were still reasons. And that was enough for her. Maybe they'd work out, maybe she loved him. She knew, in hindsight only, that she didn't really love Sasuke. Maybe if he hadn't defected, betrayed them. Even if he hadn't grown any warmer to her, she thought that maybe her crush would develop into real love just by working with him long enough. But she didn't have that chance and she was glad for it. If she had truly loved him and only learned later who he really was, she knew she'd be broken beyond repair.

So she pushed him from her mind. From now on, he was a traitor. A liar. He meant nothing to her, she didn't even want to go after him. _'Fuck Uchiha Sasuke!'_ He was just another enemy now, and she couldn't be happier. She had a _real_ teammate, a _partner_, to look after her.

And said partner was currently looking at her, shocked and still a little upset, but mostly confused. She worried that maybe she had been too obvious, that he would call her out on her bluff before she really knew the answer, herself. But it turned out alright, for Naruto just grinned and said, "Haha, I guess I will, dattebayo!"

She just smiled, relieved and a little excited, but said nothing. _'I look forward to seeing how you win me over, Naruto-kun.'_ Unbidden, a yawn forced it way out of her mouth and Naruto stood up.

"Yeah, we should get to sleep. We've still got a couple days before anything will happen, we can talk more tomorrow if you want?" He said it like a statement, but it was more of a question.

She nodded, starting to smile but yawning again instead. "Yeah, we will. Thank you again, Naruto..kun. For everything."

He blushed a little, but grinned his big foxy grin and nodded. "Anything, Sakura-chan! Good night, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good night, Naruto-kun." She liked how it felt on her lips, if she was honest.

Naruto collected his pack and opened the door, giving her a wave before leaving.

But as the door was closing, Sakura felt a sense of... _dread_. Cold, panicking dread. She squirmed and her breathing accelerated, and when the door finally latched, she couldn't stay calm. "NARUTO!"

He burst back into the door, eyes wide and scanning the room. Finding nothing out of place, he looked at Sakura, worried.

She was crying. She didn't know when they had come, but amidst the shaking and the scared breaths, her tears were already streaming down her face. They both stared at each other for a moment until Naruto started to speak, "Sakura-ch-"

"Don't leave me alone," she rushed. Her eyes darted back and forth to look into each of his, suddenly very aware that she was about to be alone in that room. "I don't want to be alone..." she said in a much smaller voice, ending in a choked-off sob.

Immediately he closed and relocked the door, setting his pack on the floor again and kicking off his sandals. "I won't, Sakura-chan." He sat down in the chair, eyes still wide in surprise but plainly seeing that now was not the time to question her. "I'll be right here when you wake up, okay? I promise."

Those two words calmed her immediately, her eyes stopping their flow to let her shed tears dry, and her body stilled, no longer shaking. She took a few deep breaths and nodded, smiling a little. "Okay... Thank you, Naruto-kun... I'm sorry..."

He shook his head, "No, you don't have to be sorry. I get it, 'tebayo. Trust me."

"I do," she answered immediately, knowing it was true.

They smiled again, feeling their new bond tightening. They said good night again, and Naruto slouched in the chair, crossing his arms and tucking his chin to his chest to sleep. Sakura closed her eyes, and the room was silent save for their breathing.

For all of twenty minutes.

Sakura's eyes opened again and she sighed. Even with Naruto there, she couldn't sleep. She looked over at him and bit her lip. Could she...? Before they'd had no choice, but now... Well, the bed was big enough, right? _'He just has to lay next to me, that's all. Then I can sleep. Besides, I'm sure he's uncomfortable like that.'_ Even as she rationalized and convinced herself that it was okay, that she just needed a little bit more to sleep, her hand was already reaching out to shake his leg, softly calling his name.

He twitched, and drifted back to consciousness with her continued efforts. "Nn, Sakura-chan... What is it? Is it time to get up already?"

She shook her head, blushing despite her rationalizing. "N-no... I-I can't sleep... C-could you l-layherewithme?" she finished, rushing and not making eye contact. She could still see as he snapped awake, also blushing and shocked.

"A-uh... A-are you sure, Sakura-chan? Why?"

She pouted, not really wanting to discuss it right now. "I just... I slept well when we were next to each other those times... Please, Naruto-kun? Just in the same bed.. I'm sure I could sleep then."

He nodded after a moment. "S-sure Sakura-chan." He stood and unzipped his jacket, letting it fall to the floor. Sakura shifted further to the wall, feeling slight pain as she moved her leg, but finding it at least easier to do with her new wrappings. He laid down next to her on her right, and looked at her. "L-like this?"

Already she felt herself relaxing. _'Seriously? Okay, you're falling WAY too hard!'_ Her inner thoughts aside, she smiled and nodded, turning her head and lacing her fingers with his. "Yeah... Thank you, Naruto-kun. Good night, again."

"G-good night, Sakura-chan.."

In hardly a minute, Sakura's breathing slowed and regulated. Naruto lie awake for a while longer, watching her content sleeping face and thinking.

She was being... clingy. He kind of liked it, but it was still different than normal. He found that he really wasn't against any of it, really. He thought it was cute, the way she wanted to rely on him like this, but he hoped that she would stop teasing him so much. He wondered if this would become the norm for them.

As he easily drifted off to sleep, stroking her hand with his thumb, he had one last thought: _'Everything's changing... And I think I like it.'_

)~HJN~(

**And that's that! Some fluff, some characterization, a little bit of canon-bending. As you can see, Sasuke is gone already. What do you think will be some repercussions for that? What do you think will happen to Team 7?**

**I won't apologize for taking so long with an update in general, as I have just been without a muse for a while and work has kept me busy until recently. But I am sorry that it's been so long since a chapter for THIS story was released. Really, it should have been finished a long time ago, before Death Dancer Ino got updated.**

**Let me know in the reviews of your thoughts, and head on over to my profile for an up-to-date list of my current projects. I've got a couple more in the making, but I'm keeping those a secret for now. Feel free to review or PM with questions or comments, I'll be sure to get back to you as well as I can!**

**Thanks for coming back!**

**Ja ne~**

**-Hiro Jiyu Naka  
>-Hero of the Free<strong>


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